


To All The Pretty Girls Who Went To Our Heads

by red_special_specialist



Series: Lesbian Diaries [1]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Angst, Bipolar Disorder, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Female Ian Gallagher, Female Mickey Milkovich, Genderbent Shameless, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, Recreational Drug Use, Rule 63, Sexual Harassment, Smut, Trauma, they're lesbians!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:29:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27692815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_special_specialist/pseuds/red_special_specialist
Summary: Ina Gallagher is a twenty year old girl, who feels stuck in life, waitressing at a rundown diner, feeling as though her whole life is falling apart around her. Mikhaila "Mickey" Milkovich, just got out of jail, and doesn't expect much out of life either. Between her mother's expectations of her, and the pressure of keeping her sexuality hidden, Mickey feels like she only has one path in life. Neither Ina or Mickey had ever thought much of each other. So, what happens when these two form an unlikely bond, and the lines between them become blurred?
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Series: Lesbian Diaries [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025191
Comments: 15
Kudos: 18





	To All The Pretty Girls Who Went To Our Heads

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to start this out by saying, if you read my other fic Uptown Boy, I'm going to try hard to get the new chapter up by this weekend. As for this story, I'm super excited for it! I really like the idea, and I hope you guys do too. That's it for now :) Enjoy this story, and thanks for reading!

At age twenty, there were a lot of things Ina Gallagher wanted to have already achieved in her life. She was a goal-oriented person, after all. As a young girl, she made lists upon lists of goals and achievements which were only limited by how far her imagination wanted to run. At eleven, she wanted to be a dentist, saving people’s teeth one cavity at a time. When she was thirteen, she wanted to be veterinarian, until she learned she’d have to kill the animals sometimes, so that was a no go. When she was fifteen, she wanted to join the army, even going as far as to join ROTC, but then that eventually fell through when she lost interest after graduated high school.

After high school she went to college, not really having a plan on what she wanted to do with her life. She took general classes, hoping to figure it out by the next semester, but when the next semester came, she still didn’t have a clue. On her second year, Ina became more stressed than before, putting a lot of pressure on herself to find a major.

Ina didn’t know when it happened, but soon after the start of he second semester of her second year, she started partying a lot more. She stayed out until late, stopped going to class, stopped finishing assignments. She even stopped calling her family. Ina didn’t notice at first, because even though she was failing her classes, she felt great. However, it wasn’t long after until she started feeling severely depressed. It was like a switch flipped in her brain, and she couldn’t get out of bed. She stayed like that for a few days, until finally, Ina’s older sister, Lis, came to visit her and saw the state she was in.

When Lis told Ina that she could have bipolar disorder, she denied it. Ina knew the disorder well, all her siblings did. Ina and her siblings had to live their whole lives with their father, who had the same disorder. He took hard drugs and drank, like their mother, and he also never medicated himself. He’d been in and out of their lives for years. Their mother usually popped in every once in a while, if she wanted food or a place to sleep. Ina was raised mostly by her oldest brother, Finn, who was more of a parent to Ina and the rest of her siblings than her parents ever were or will be. They were complete disappointments, which was why Ina knew she couldn’t be like either of them. She wouldn’t allow it. However, even though Ina didn’t believe she had it, everyone else in her family did, and that’s what pushed her over the edge.

Ina dropped out of college not long after Lis’ visit. At the time, she thought it was a great idea. She assumed that if she were to drop out and start making money on her own, she could convince her family that she was fine, and that she didn’t need to go to a psychiatric hospital. She started stripping at a club, and would sometimes sleep on a client’s couch, or in the back room of the club. She would make money every night, and then spend it on party drugs. She did that for three months, until finally she was hauled back home.

Ina knew she had a problem. She didn’t see it clearly when she was working at the strip club, but once she got home and got some help, Ina knew that the doctors were right. She had bipolar disorder, just like her father.

After finally accepting it, Ina was prescribed medication, and was instructed to take it daily. She hated it at first, but it soon got better, or at least it wasn’t unbearable. When her meds started mellowing out, Ina’s brother, Finn, said she needed to get a job. He said it would help her stay focused and motivated. So, Finn got her a job at the same place he worked, at a small diner called Patsy’s. It didn’t sound glamorous by any means, but Finn was adamant about her working there. Ina knew it was just because Finn wanted to keep an eye on her.

On the first day of her new job, Ina spent the first thirty minutes of it in the bathroom. She’d been given a uniform from the manager and was instructed to go change. When Ina finished getting dressed, she stayed back to collect herself. She was nervous after all, and she felt queasy, almost like she wanted to throw up. She just didn’t want to mess up. She didn’t want to let her brother down.

Ina looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She was wearing a white tank top, and black suspender shorts. Her bright red hair was pulled up into a ponytail. In Ina’s opinion, she looked stupid, but she wouldn’t tell her manager that. She might tell Finn later if she saw him. Ina knew that most places have uniforms, but this was not going to work. It wasn’t just the uniform though. She didn’t want to be there.

When she walked out of the women’s bathroom, she was relieved to see her brother standing there waiting for her.

“Hey, sweet face,” he said affectionately, pulling her into a half hug, “does the uniform fit ok?”

Does the uniform fit- what? Ina crossed her arms over her chest, setting her stare, and her ever increasing bad mood on her brother, “Finn, what the hell is this?”

Finn gave a confused laugh, “What the hell is what?”

Ina gestured to her outfit, “This.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Are you being serious right now? I’m wearing a white tank top and these short shorts. If I wanted to show skin, I would have applied for Hooters. I don’t want to stand here all day being ogled by old truckers, who stare at my ass when I walk by. Why can’t I just wear what the guys wear?”

Finn raised an amused eyebrow, “Because they’re for the guys.”

“So, what?”

“Look,” he sighed, “I understand your frustration.”

“No, I don’t think you do. Double D’s, Finn. That’s what I have. And you want me to prance around in this outfit, because the men will tip more if I look sexy. That’s fucked up.”

Finn rolled his eyes, “That’s business. It’s not like I’m asking you to strip naked, like the last job you were at.”

Low blow. That was a low blow. Ina bit her lip, trying not to think about the strip club she worked at during her manic episode. Maybe that’s why the uniform bothered her so much now. She didn’t want to be reduced to just her looks anymore.

Finn could tell he stepped over the line. He ran his fingers through his short, dark, brunet hair, “Hey, look, I’m sorry. Just, y’know, try to be grateful. It’s a job, Ina, and you really need one. Not just because we’re strapped for cash, but you need the normalcy in your life. I don’t want you running away again for three months, stripping for money, and living on the street, ok?”

Ina looked to the floor, guilt building back up in her stomach. She nodded silently.

Finn put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up, and he smiled, “Just give it a shot.”

“Fine,” she grumbled, “Doesn’t change the fact that these outfits are totally sexist.”

“The manager here is a woman. A woman, who gave you this job by the way.”

“Only because you’re fucking her.”

Finn smirked, “It’s called networking.”

“Actually, it’s called mommy issues.”

Finn snapped back Ina’s exposed bra strap for that one.

“Oww,” she hissed, “fucker.”

“You deserved it. Also, don’t sweat it about the uniform. You look fine. Like a very respectable young lady.”

Ina couldn’t help but smile a little. Her big brother always knew what to say.

“And look, if it doesn’t work out here, at least you know that Hooters is hiring.”

Ina smacked him playfully on the arm, “If anyone stares at my boobs, or tries to play grab ass, I’m ‘accidentally’ spilling hot coffee all over their lap.”

Finn opened his mouth to respond when the manager, Shauna, called out from her office.

“Finn, I need you back here for a second!”

“What, she has you banging her in the middle of the day now?”

Finn rolled his eyes, shoving his sister lightly, “Try not to spill coffee on anyone, whether it be accidental, or otherwise,” and with that, Finn jogged to the manager’s office, disappearing from Ina’s line of sight.

Ina let out an irritated sigh, before walking over to the counter, bracing herself for whatever her trainer would throw at her. When she stopped at the counter, she heard the distinct sound of a wolf whistle coming from behind her. She whipped around just in time to see some guy grinning at her. Ina glared at him, before turning back around. She took a deep breath, before exhaling out her nose. It was going to be a long first day.

After about four hours of taking orders, wiping up tables, filling up coffees, and trying not to spill said coffees on assholes who pissed her off, Ina was about to pull her hair out. She had no idea how her brother did this every day; let alone how he became assistant manager.

She didn’t think she could do this. It wasn’t like the work was complicated, but this was definitely not where she thought she’d be by now. It made the work all the more unbearable, when she knew that she could do better things in life.

A couple more hours later, and Ina’s shift was winding down. She only had another two hours to go before she got to clock out. After collecting some tips from the counter, Ina started clearing dishes, and wiping down the counter’s surface. While her back was turned, she felt someone slide their arms around her waist.

“Hello, beautiful,” a male voice whispered in her ear.

“What the fuck?” she snapped, turning around, ready to beat the shit out of whoever this guy was, but was surprised to find her best friend, Manny Milkovich.

He held up his hands in defense, “Hey, sorry, didn’t know you’d be so jumpy.”

Manny Milkovich had been Ina’s best friend since early high school. It started out as a crush. Ina didn’t know what it was at first. She must have done something funny in class, or maybe it was because she went up a bra size that year, but whatever it was, Manny Milkovich magically showed up one day next to her locker and wouldn’t leave her alone. He’d follow her to class, wait outside to walk her home from school, and would ask her out every day. Finally, Ina caved and agreed to go to the movies with him.

Ina wouldn’t have called it a date, but at the time, Manny definitely thought it was. It ended before the previews finished, because Manny had tried to subtly get his hand up Ina’s shirt. Ina rewarded him with a hard hit to the balls, and then stormed out of the theatre. It took almost an hour of convincing, and profusely apologizing, for Ina to even consider letting Manny drive her home. On their drive, she apologized for hitting him, and then much to her own surprise, she came out to him, and even more surprising then that, Manny stuck around.

They’d quickly became best friends after that, practically spending every moment together. It didn’t come as much of surprise to Ina when people speculated that they were dating. In fact, it worked to both her and Manny’s advantage, her not having to deal with all the creeps around the neighborhood, and Manny not having to deal with crazy ex-girlfriends. So, they decided to date for real, or fake date for real, that is, and they carried on that way until senior year when Ina finally came out of the closet. They remained best friends though, and Ina was glad about that. Manny was the only person she stayed in contact with when she ran away. He was the one who brought her back too. Ina barely remembered that night, but he’d visited her one night after her shift, and she passed out outside the club she was working at. He carried her home. She would have frozen to death if he hadn’t been there. It was a scary thing to think about.

“Yeah, well I am. I’ve had guys staring at me all day, and I thought you were a customer getting handsy. I was gonna punch you in the dick.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Manny said, as he grinned at her through his dark bangs. They were getting long. He brushed them out of his eyes, and then readjusted the Rasta beanie he was wearing.

Ina rolled her eyes, “It’s this stupid outfit.”

“Yeah, you kinda look ridiculous.”

“Not helping. Also, what are you doing here?”

Manny raised an eyebrow, “Uh, to eat? This is a restaurant, right, or did I get that wrong?”

Ina snorted out a laugh, “Smart ass.”

“Actually, I came here to see my best friend on her first day at her new job. I wanted to be here for emotional support.”

“Aww, Manny, that’s really sweet.”

“I’m just fucking with you. I wanted to know if I could get free food.”

“Asshole,” she laughed, shoving him.

“I never claimed to be anything else.”

Ina laughed again, as Manny lightly pulled on her ponytail, and she playfully slapped his hand away. Her mood started to lift from the presence of her best friend, but it quickly dropped again, when she heard someone groan out.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” came a voice from behind Manny.

Ina looked behind Manny to see his older sister, Mickey, glaring at them with her arms crossed. She was surprised she hadn’t noticed the other girl until then. Mickey was small, but she was loud, voicing her opinion or making rude and threatening remarks when nobody asked.

Ina set her stare on the older Milkovich, looking her up and down. She was wearing a Radiohead t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and ripped jeans. Her dark, brunette, hair was an unkempt mess, that fell a little past her shoulders. Her face was covered in dirt, and she had a cut under her eye. She’d probably just gotten into a fight with someone. Mickey Milkovich was known around the neighborhood as someone not to fuck with, even if she was a girl.

“Hey, Mickey,” Ina said with a forced smile. She never knew what to say to the girl, even though she’d known Mickey just as long as she’s known Manny. Ina guessed it was because she was intimidated by her, which made sense, but it was kind of a shame. Despite her homely appearance, Mickey Milkovich wasn’t ugly. Ina could see herself getting lost in those blue eyes, or that rare cocky smirk, very easily. Unfortunately, those pretty eyes, and those pouty lips, had to belong to the biggest bitch on the Southside.

“Hey,” she said curtly.

“Last I heard, you were in jail. When did you get out?”

“Today,” Manny butted in, which Ina was thankful for, “I just picked her up.”

“Yeah, and I’m fucking starving, so can you do your job and show us to a table now?”

“Of course,” Ina murmured, feeling nervous. She had no idea why, and then she realized it might have something to do with Mickey being there. Ina heard she’d gone to jail for punching a cop, which landed Mickey in county for seven months. Which was bad, but even before then she was an absolute nightmare.

Ina sat the two Milkovich siblings at a booth and handed them menus. She then got out her pen and note pad, “What can I get you guys for drinks?”

“Root beer,” Mickey said, not looking up from her menu.

Ina rolled her eyes, before jotting it down. She looked to Manny, who smiled at her.

“Some of your finest Dr. Pepper, garcon.”

Ina wrote it down, and then smirked over her notepad, “You know garcon means boy in French, right?”

Manny furrowed his brow, “Really? Are you sure?”

Ina couldn’t help but giggle at the look of confusion on her best friend’s face, “Yeah.”

Manny laughed as well, which finally caused Mickey to look up from her menu.

“Ok, can you stop flirting with my brother, and go get our drinks? Not like this,” Mickey gestured between Ina and Manny, “is ever going to happen. Aren’t you like a dyke or something?”

Ina’s mouth formed into a tense line.

Manny kicked Mickey under the table, causing his sister to yell out. He turned to Ina, “Sorry about her. If you ask me, they should have just left her in jail.”

“I’ll get you your drinks,” Ina said, before turning on her heel, and walking away. She grabbed two glasses, and put ice in them, before filling them up with soda. She glanced over at the table to see Manny scolding his sister in hushed words, while Mickey had her arms crossed, looking very unimpressed. With an annoyed sigh, Ina made her way back to the table and handed them their drinks.

“Thanks,” Manny said at the same time Mickey muttered out, “Took you long enough.”

Ina decided to ignore Mickey and put on her best waitress smile. There was no way she was letting that bitch get to her. “Are you guys ready to order?”

“Philly cheesesteak and tater tots,” Manny said.

Ina nodded and wrote it down. She looked to Mickey expectantly.

“Double bacon cheeseburger with extra barbecue sauce.”

“Fries ok with that?”

“Did I ask for anything else?”

“No, I guess you didn’t,” Ina muttered, scribbling the order down.

“Jesus, Gallagher, could you not stand so fuckin’ close to me?” Mickey snapped, her nose scrunched up, “You reek.”

“I what?”

Manny leaned closer to Ina and sniffed, “She smells like cotton candy.”

“Exactly. What, did you pour the whole fuckin’ perfume bottle on you?”

Ina blushed deeply, “I- I’m sorry. My sister Lis and I went to the mall last weekend. I stole a bunch of shit from Bath & Body Works. Cotton candy shampoo and conditioner, bodywash, lotion, perfume-”

“Did I fuckin’ ask for your whole life story? Just back away from me. You smell like the inside of a Claire’s.”

“Sorry,” she murmured, feeling her ears heat up.

Manny snatched the menu from Mickey’s hand, and then handed it to Ina along with his, “You’ll have to excuse Mikhaila. She has this incurable disease where she’s an insufferable bitch to everyone around her.”

Ina gave Manny a sad smile, before leaving the table. She hurried over to the counter to hand the order to the chef. It was then when she started feeling tears prickle at her eyes. It was stupid, she knew that. There were a lot of things in her life she could cry over, and Mickey Milkovich shouldn’t have been one of them. Ina turned away from the window, to wipe at her eyes.

“Hey,” Finn said, stepping behind the counter.

Ina turned to her brother, “Hey,” she sniffled.

“Woah,” Finn said, his face overcome with worry, “what’s going on? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” she huffed, grabbing a napkin off the counter to dry her eyes.

“Obviously, you’re not.”

“It’s just…” Ina trailed off, letting her eyes flicker over to Manny and Mickey’s table.

“Shit,” Finn muttered, when he saw what Ina was looking at.

“Yeah.”

“Thought she’d stay locked up for at least a year. What did she do to you?”

“Nothing, really. She’s just a miserable bitch.”

“I can take their table, if you want?”

Ina shook her head, and then forced a smile, “I’m fine, really.”

Finn looked unconvinced.

“Seriously, Finn, you worry to much,” she said, as the chef rang the bell at the window, sliding the tray out, and Ina grabbed it. She ignored Finn’s eyes on her, picking up the ticket, which said the order was for table seven. She brushed past her brother, and then delivered the food to the two older gentlemen, who were sitting at a booth near the window. When she set the food down, one of the men winked at her, and then called her ‘sweetheart’. Ina wanted to gag.

When Manny and Mickey’s order was ready, Ina braced herself for whatever insult Mickey would throw her way. To her surprise, Mickey didn’t say anything when she arrived at the table, and when she set the food in front of her, Mickey said thank you. Ina guessed Manny must have set his sister straight, because there was no way Mickey Milkovich decided to suddenly be respectful to Ina on her own.

Mickey picked up the top bun and examined under it.

Ina furrowed her brow, “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Mickey said, putting the bun back down, “just making sure you didn’t spit in it.”

That wasn’t a bad idea, Ina thought, kicking herself for the missed opportunity. She raised an eyebrow, “How’d you know I didn’t?”

“Guess I don’t. Better than the jail’s food though,” she shrugged, before taking a bite.

Ina put her head down to hide her smile, before walking away. She cleared off more tables, and filled up glasses, and brought orders to tables, while also keeping her eye on Manny and Mickey’s booth. Well, more like, Ina was keeping her eye on Mickey. Ina didn’t know what it was, but something was different about the other girl now, and she didn’t know what it was. Ina then told herself, she was probably just being weary of Mickey, because Mickey was known to steal and trash things when not under constant supervision. However, something deep in Ina’s gut was telling her that wasn’t the case.

Eventually, Ina went back to check on table seven, where it looked like the two men were finished their meal. She went through the whole mantra of handing them their check and asking if they needed to-go boxes.

The men said no, and said they’d be paying in cash. However, instead of going up to the cash register, the one that called her ‘sweetheart’, took out some cash, and then slowly started to run int up Ina’s exposed leg.

Ina quickly stepped back, grabbing the money from his hand, “Thanks,” she mumbled, feeling sick.

“Hey, no problem,” he said, sliding his hand around to touch her ass.

“Hey!” she snapped, pulling away, and then slapping the customer across the face. Everything stopped then. It felt as if the whole restaurant was looking at her, as she put her hands over her mouth. What did she just do?

In a matter of seconds, Finn was by her side. He gently pulled her away, and then stood in front of her, “Hey, what’s your problem?!”

“My problem?! Your little bitch waitress hit me!”

“Yeah, because you grabbed my ass!”

“You need to leave,” Finn growled, pulling the guy up by his shirt, causing his friend to get up, and push Finn.

Ina backed up, until she bumped into someone. She startled, looking back only to find that it was Manny. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Manny put his arms around her, and Ina curled into him.

Ina watched Finn push the other guy back, still holding on to the collar of the one who touched her. He looked like he was ready to punch both of their lights out, when Shauna stopped in between them, breaking up the fight.

“Ok, settle down. I don’t want the cops here.”

“Then you tell this punk to let me go,” the man said, trying to pull away.

“He touched Ina inappropriately. He grabbed her butt,” Finn said, looking to Shauna.

“Finn, let him go.”

Finn hesitated at first, but then released him, glaring daggers at the man.

The man turned to Shauna, “Thank y-”

“Now, you get the fuck out of my diner,” she snarled, getting in the guy’s face, “Don’t come back unless you’re ready to treat my staff with respect. And if I ever see you touch one of my girls like that again, the cops will be called, but when they get here, they’ll have to call in two dead bodies.”

The man blinked in surprise, “Alright, we’ll go.”

“Not before you apologize.”

The man, turned to Ina sheepishly, “Sorry.”

Ina didn’t say anything, but curled in closer to Manny, glaring at the two men.

Both men headed toward the door, the friend in front, and the guy who grabbed Ina, trailing behind. Then, suddenly, the man tripped, tumbling to the floor.

Everyone looked at the man, now sprawled on the ground. A few people laughed, but not Ina, because she wasn’t looking at him. Instead, she was looking at what tripped the man, which was a foot. A foot, which belonged to Mickey Milkovich, outstretched right where the man had fallen.

Ina watched it quickly retract back under the table, and she looked at Mickey in surprise. Mickey had tripped him for her.

Mickey looked back, and even had the audacity to give Ina a mischievous smile.

The men left in shame after that. Finn pulled Ina aside to make sure she was ok, which Ina assured her brother that she was. Then Shauna called Ina into her office and offered to let Ina wear the male uniform if she wanted to. Ina declined, however, because she thought it would be unfair to the other girls. Plus, she knew she’d get major shit for it.

When Ina got back to Mickey and Manny’s booth, they were done eating, and Mickey had already left.

Manny, however, stayed behind to check up on Ina. He put an arm around her, before asking, “You gonna be ok?”

“Of course. I always am, right?”

Manny gave her a sad smile, “Just text me later, ok?”

“Ok,” she said, hugging him.

“Oh, and can you tell your sister we need to talk? I keep texting her, but she keeps leaving me on read.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, but I think it has something to do with her spending the weekend at Kenny Jackson’s house. I think she knows I know.”

“Why does it matter? You guys aren’t official or anything.”

“I know, but that guy fucking sucks. I just think she can do so much better than him.”

“That ‘someone better’ being you, right?”

“Preferably, yeah. At least I’m not the guy who gave the entire cheerleading team chlamydia back in high school.”

Ina’s eyes widened, “Nuh-uh, is that true?”

“I don’t know, probably. Make sure your sister knows that though, but you didn’t hear it from me.”

Ina rolled her eyes, before saying goodbye to Manny. Ina then got back to work, trying to go on as nothing happened, counting the minutes before the end of her shift.

After work, Ina went to the back room to get her stuff from her locker. When she arrived at the door, she could hear a couple of her fellow waitresses on the inside.

“I give her a week.”

“Shit, I give her three days.”

“Good, I kinda can’t stand her.”

“At least you don’t have to train her. You know the only reason she got this job was because of her brother, right?”

“Yeah, must be nice to get whatever job you want just because you’re related to the boss.”

Ina stepped back, feeling her eyes start to water. The door opened and the two girls walked out, not seeming to notice Ina standing behind them. When they were out of sight, Ina quickly gathered her stuff and walked home.

When Ina finally got home, and stepped into the house, the first thing she heard were the shrill cries of a baby.

“Great,” she muttered, knowing that she probably wasn’t getting a goodnight’s sleep tonight, or any other night in the near future. Not when there was a one-year old living in the house. A one year old, who could probably win a gold metal in the Olympics, if there was a sport for screaming your lungs out.

Ina walked towards the kitchen, nearly tripping over something on the floor. “Fuck,” she hissed, looking down and realizing that something was her mother, who was passed out drunk on the floor. Ina rolled her eyes, kicking the woman’s beer bottle out of the way, before noticing her mother had passed out with a lit cigarette in her mouth, and was burning a hole in the carpet.

“Shit,” she yelped, grabbing it, and snubbing it out in the ash tray, “Goddamnit, Fran,” she cursed her mother.

“Quiet down, you little shits,” Francine Gallagher grumbled, in her alcohol dazed sleep.

Ina scoffed, resisting the urge to kick her mother in the face. Instead, she continued her walk to the kitchen, where the agonizing wails of her nephew got louder and loud, the sound clawing at her eardrums, making it unbearable to stand.

“Hey,” Ina greeted her younger brother, Devon, who was currently trying to feed his son in the highchair. Key word trying, because the baby kept slapping away the spoon, causing yellowish gray sludge to splatter on the chair, Devon, and the floor.

Ina rolled her eyes, when Devon didn’t say anything back, still focused on the child in front of him. She grabbed a couple beers from the fridge, when another piercing cry came from the baby, and Ina grimaced, “What, is he trying to break a record?”

“I’m trying to feed him, and he won’t eat any of it,” Devon said, sounding close to tears. He tried putting the food up to the baby’s mouth again, only for it to be smacked away once more. Devon groaned, “C’mon, Frankie, work with me.”

Ina felt bad for her brother. It was only five months ago, when Frankie’s mother dropped the baby off with a note attached saying Devon was the father, before ding-dong-ditching the kid, like he was an Amazon package. Devon had no idea, and at the time he wasn’t even sure if the baby was his, even if it did look like him, and sported the same bright red hair as him. Also, the timelines added up, since Devon had been hooking up with a girl from school around two years ago, who ended up moving out of the city. Still, just to be certain, their sister Phyllis, had taken Devon to get a paternity test. When the results came back, nobody was surprised. Everyone kind of already guessed the baby was Devon’s.

Devon was only sixteen, but he still wanted to take care of the baby. It was a constant fight between him and Finn, who had suggested they drop Frankie off at the hospital the first day he arrived at their front door. Finn was adamant about not taking care of anymore kids, while Devon didn’t want to put the baby up for adoption, even getting the baby’s name changed, because Devon wanted his son named after their mom. Ina didn’t really know why, maybe to solidify the fact the baby was now officially a Gallagher. And, even though it’s been five months since Frankie has been living at the house, Finn still brings up the idea of getting rid of the baby, which only causes Devon to fight back hard, trying to prove their older brother wrong.

Ina knew both her brothers’ hearts were in the right place. She thought that Finn was right when it came to Devon not being responsible enough. He was just a kid, and he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. However, Ina could understand wanting to keep your baby, even if you just found out about their existence only a few months ago. She understood, but that didn’t change the fact that every time her brothers got into a screaming match with each other, she wanted to push both of them out of their second story window.

Ina sighed, and brought her beers over to the table, setting them down, before picking up the jar of baby food. She looked at the label, seeing that it was turkey and gravy flavored. She then put it up to her nose and sniffed, grimacing before putting it back down, “He’s probably not eating it because it smells like cat food.”

“It’s all we have left,” he grumbled.

“Here,” Ina said, reaching into her wallet, and handing him a twenty-dollar bill, “Get him some sweet potatoes. He devoured them last time I fed him a jar.”

“Thanks,” he replied softly, looking down at his lap.

Ina smiled sadly at him, before taking the spoon out of his hand, “Let me try.”

“Good luck.”

Ina sat down in one of the chairs, scooting it up next to the highchair. She set her stare on Frankie, and said, “See this food? You’re going to eat this food. Here,” she scooped some baby food out of the jar and held it up to Frankie. When he went to swat it away, she pulled it back, and then put the food in her mouth.

Devon stared at his sister wide eyed, and Frankie did the same.

“Mmm,” Ina said, trying not to gag. She swallowed, “this is so good. If you don’t want it, then I’m gonna eat all of it.”

Frankie stared at Ina curiously, and then tried reaching for the food, only for Ina to put it further away.

“Nuh-uh, kid. This is mine now,” she said, eating another spoonful.

Frankie started crying, reaching his chubby hand out to grab for the spoon.

“Do you want some?”

Frankie nodded, and was then rewarded by Ina getting another spoonful of baby food and offering it to him. Frankie obediently opened his mouth, letting Ina feed him the turkey and gravy.

“Good boy,” she cooed, feeding him another bite. She the handed the spoon and jar back to her brother.

Devon looked amazed, “How did you do that?”

“Don’t over think it. Babies always want things they’re not allowed to have. I did that same trick all the time when you and Carla were babies,” she said, getting up out of her chair, “Though, my advice would be don’t feed him that anymore.”

Devon nodded, “Thanks, Ina.”

“No problem. Glad I was useful to somebody today.”

“Tough day at work?”

“Something like that, but don’t worry about me, ok? I’m fine.”

“If you say so.”

Ina rolled her eyes, picking up her beers, “Where is everybody?”

“Carla left to go hookup with some guy, Leah’s asleep, Lis is upstairs, and Fran was here earlier, I think.”

“Yeah, she’s passed out on the floor. She had a lit cigarette in her mouth.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Ina started up the stairs, “Try keeping an eye on her, she almost burned down the house.”

“I have my own kid to take care of. I don’t have time to babysit mom too,” Devon called out.

“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered, making her way to Lis’ room.

Her sister, Phyllis, was sitting on her bed rolling a joint. Her short golden-brown hair, clung to her face, as she concentrated on not fucking it up.

Ina smiled, knocking on the door frame.

Lis looked up and smiled, “Hey, you’re back from work.”

“Yup, thank god. I feel like I’m going to have a mental breakdown.”

“That doesn’t sound good. What happened?”

Instead of answering her, Ina held up the two bottles, “I got beer.”

“Fantastic, also your just in time to smoke this with me,” she said, sticking the joint in her mouth before pointing towards her dresser, “Hand me my lighter.”

Ina grabbed the lighter, and then lit the joint, before handing Lis a beer.

“Thanks,” she said, before taking a hit.

“Sure.”

“So, bad first day?”

“Yeah, bad first day.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Well, first, look at this outfit. It’s fucking ridiculous.”

“I think you look nice.”

“Thanks, so did every guy in the restaurant.”

“Oh,” Lis said, handing Ina the joint.

Ina took a hit, letting the smoke fill her lungs, before slowly exhaling, “Yup, it caused some guy to grab my ass.”

“No way.”

Ina nodded, popping the cap off her beer, and taking a swig.

“Was Finn there?”

“Yeah, he almost beat the shit out of the guy. Shauna made him leave. Told him not to come back until he learned how to respect the waitresses.”

Lis took a sip of her own drink, “Sounds like I missed all the excitement.”

“Shauna offered to let me wear the guys uniform, but I turned it down.”

“Why?”

“Because my coworkers would have complained. All the other bitch waitresses have it out for me, because I got this job by being Finn’s sister. Plus, I made more in tips. So, I don’t want to push my luck with them.”

Lis grabbed the joint from Ina’s hand, “If you ever get tired of it, you could always come work with me at the bike shop.”

Ina shook her head, “I’ll be fine. I just gotta suck it up. It’s my fault I’m stuck there anyway.”

“Hey,” Lis said, putting her drink down on her nightstand. She turned towards Ina, “stop that. You know it isn’t.”

“I dropped out of college to become a stripper,” Ina gave a humorless chuckle, letting Lis pass the joint back to her.

“You were in a manic state. You didn’t know you had bipolar disorder. You’re ok now. You’re taking medication regularly, and you’ve mellowed out. You know how to look for signs and deal with it. You’re not stuck anywhere, Ina, you just need time to figure out what you really need.”

Ina thought about that as she put the joint to her lips. She knew deep down her sister was right. The problem was that Ina had no idea what she wanted out of life. All she knew, was that she didn’t want to stay working at that fucking diner forever. She didn’t want to be some old hag, going home alone every night, crying herself to sleep, because she wasted her life at job she hated. She just wanted a purpose.

Ina sat like that for a while, not saying anything. She just kept sipping her beer, while her and Lis finished off the joint. She didn’t know why, but she felt the need to fill the silence, so she said, “Manny came by Patsy’s today.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yup.”

“That must have made you happy.”

“Kinda,” Ina bit her lip, as she thought about Mickey again. The way she acted towards Ina, but then tripped that guy for her. She didn’t know if Mickey did it because she was trying to be nice or what, but it had Ina feeling all types of ways. “He brought his sister though.”

“Coleen or Izzy?”

“Mickey.”

Lis raised her eyebrow, “I thought Mickey was in jail.”

“She just got out.”

“Let me guess, she’s just as polite as she was before? Being incarcerated didn’t turn her into a criminal, did it?”

Ina snorted out a laugh, “She was fucking terrible. I wanted to deck her in the face.”

“That’s fair.”

“She was such a god-awful bitch to me.”

“Yep, that sounds like Mickey.”

“But…” Ina trailed off, thinking about how Mickey smiled at her.

“But what?”

“When that guy grabbed my ass, after Shauna kicked him out, Mickey tripped him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I think she did it for me. Maybe as an apology for how she acted earlier, maybe it was because she wanted to put that guy in his place.”

“How do you know she doesn’t just like causing bodily harm to people?”

“She smiled at me after she did it.”

“Huh,” Lis said, finishing off her beer, “maybe Mickey used the miniscule amount of kindness she had on you. You should feel special.”

“I’m so honored,” Ina laughed, but secretly she did feel a little special. Mickey Milkovich didn’t do anything for anybody. She was the toughest chick on the South side. Maybe it did feel a little good to have Mickey in her corner. “Oh,” she said suddenly, remembering what Manny had told her, “speaking of Milkoviches, Manny asked about you today.”

Lis acted disinterested, when she said, “Oh?”

“Yeah, he said you’ve been leaving him on read.”

“Maybe.”

“Does it have anything to do with you spending the weekend at Kenny Jackson’s.”

“Maybe,” Lis said again, but this time there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

“Apparently he gave the whole cheerleading team chlamydia back in high school.”

“Good thing I made him wear a rubber back then.”

“Y’know Manny really likes you, right?”

“Everyone likes me, I’m hot.”

“And very humble,” Ina said, before adding, “When are you going to stop this back and forth between those two?”

Lis shrugged, “Until one of them knocks me up.”

“Oh god,” Ina laughed, “I hope you’re joking.”

“I definitely am. We already have one too many babies in the house.”

“Yeah, but he’s cute.”

“He is, when he’s not screaming his head off.”

“You think Finn is right? That Devon should put him up for adoption?”

Lis stayed quiet for a moment, before saying, “I think Devon should decide that for himself.”

Ina nodded, feeling the same way. She finished her beer, and then got up to leave. She was dead tired, and she wanted to go to bed. Before she left, however, she turned around to face Lis, “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

“Also, um, if you’re thinking about stringing Manny along forever, don’t. He’s my best friend, and I don’t want him getting hurt. Even if the person hurting him is my sister.”

Lis looked up at her then, her eyes furrowed, “Alright, I won’t.”

“Good,” she said, and then left for her room.

That night as Ina slept, she dreamt about sparkling blue eyes, and brunette-haired girls with porcelain skin. She dreamt about sassy remarks and harsh words. She dreamt about soft lips quirking into a knowing smirk. Ina woke up the next morning feeling well rested, but also felt something off in the pit of her stomach. Her dream was about Mikhaila Milkovich. This was not good.


End file.
